Hotel kingpin Sam Chang has bought up a big bag of pricey air rights from his neighbors down at Washington and Rector. On that corner at 99 Washington Street, Mr. McSam plans to put up skinny new hotel, supposedly in the style of classic downtown skyscrapers. (It's also a stone's throw from the W at 123 Washington that's going to sex up FiDi big time.) Chang's McSam gang will join with their usual partner in construction, architect Gene Kaufman, to give birth to something they're calling Radisson Financial.

That second tower is yet another McSam-Kaufman concoction set to rise at 50 Trinity Place. Although the two hotels are strikingly similar, please try not to confuse the "separate towers." For this one on Washington, the valuable air rights came from the little terracotta-covered building next door at number 103 Washington, home to Moran's bar. Others were transferred from the Greenwich Hospitality gang which runs the Pussycat Lounge on a parcel to the northeast at 96 Greenwich Street. Still more development rights were snatched up from two little sites just to the east at 94 and 94A Greenwich. All four of those low-rise properties are on the Calendar for Landmarks protection. Their preservation will allow the new McSam to rise alone, climbing tall without any immediate neighbors to get in the way of the guests' windows in that 325-room hotel tower. Which means that folks will be able to see this one from all angles.

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Here's the other: 50 Trinity Place

__________________NEW YORK. World's capital.

“Office buildings are our factories – whether for tech, creative or traditional industries we must continue to grow our modern factories to create new jobs,” said United States Senator Chuck Schumer.

Erection of the new, 43-story hotel tower is again underway at 99 Washington Street (at Rector Street), with bracing being installed for the adjacent 103 Washington building starting March 6th through May.

Contractor Tritel Construction has resumed foundation work at the site, including caisson installation, through the end of 2009, with superstructure to follow in early 2010. Developer McSam Hotel Group is building the tower to be a 370-room Holiday Inn, opening in spring 2011.

__________________NEW YORK. World's capital.

“Office buildings are our factories – whether for tech, creative or traditional industries we must continue to grow our modern factories to create new jobs,” said United States Senator Chuck Schumer.

i really like this one. traditional, maybe even conservitave but i love how slender it (ok, both of them) are. its not gaudy-look-how-shiny-my-glass-is futuristic, but it has a subtle boldness to it. ok, maybe thats over analyzed, but the point is i like it.

Yeah, the building itself is nothing to get excited about. It seems like a very simple and standard design. But who knows, SkyHouse was not much to look at in the renders, but the final product came out just fine.

__________________"I'm going there, but I like it here wherever it is.."

...and why the hell *Navy Blue* on top?????...or dark purple or whatever this mental case of a developer thinks is a good idea?
...Well, at least 123 Washington's got a neighbor of equally mind-boggling visual discontinuity.